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ENGLAND 2 ITALY 1

21.50 England secure their first win against Italy for 15 years. I'll be honest, I did not see that happening. I had slightly forgotten how average Italy's friendly performances tend to be. But nevertheless that was encouraging for England. Cleverley was disciplined and bright in midfield. James Milner suddenly looks an exciting player. Both of the keepers failed to embarrass themselves. And Jermain Defoe scored a peach of a goal. Well done, one and all. Thanks for your company, I'll talk to you again soon.

FULL TIMEEngland 2 Italy 1

90+2 min Three minutes of added time have been indicated which, by my reckoning, means we've got two more left.

90+1 min England caught in two minds from the corner, and can't decide whether to attempt to score or keep it in the corner. They concede a goal kick.

90 min Almost three! Milner does very well on the left, beats his man and delivers it to Defoe on the near post. Ogbonna just about deals with it, but that's a corner for England.

88 min This has all been quite pleasant for John Ruddy. A couple of decent saves, a goal-line clearance from one of his defenders and now some catching practice as Italy deliver a number of non-threatening crosses and shots.

84 min More excited attacking from England, Defoe again has a dig from the edge of the box. This one's safely wide of the far post, though. This is a triumph, isn't it? We've earned our third place on the world rankings list! Roy Hodgson as a late runner for Sports Personality of the Year?

GOAL!! 80 min England 2 Italy 1 (Defoe) Great break from England after Ruddy saved well from Veratti and Bertrand headed off the line from the resulting corner. Worked quickly upfield where England are forward in numbers. Defoe on the ball but forced to check his run as Abate gets back. This doesn't deter the Spurs striker, who makes a bit of space for himself on the edge of the box and strikes it beautifully towards the top corner. Sirigu gets a hand to it but there's too much on it and England have the lead.

78 min Here's Ryan Bertrand, making his full England debut. He replaces Leighton Baines, who's tired out after going on that run five minutes ago.

76 min Defoe has the ball in the net again but is probably offside and Lescott's been penalised once again for some pushing nonsense.

74 min Nearly an own goal! Milner crosses beautifully from the left and Destro turns it dangerously towards goal. Sirigu is alert to it and turns it onto the post. Rebounds to Lescott a yard out but at a tight angle and he can only direct it onto the post again.

73 min Leighton Baines remembers he's playing, bursting forward from left back and beating every Italian on his side of the pitch before eventually arriving in the box to find there's no-one up there with him. Italy get it away, but England soon win a free kick wide on the left.

71 min Andy Hewitson has answered the question posed above:

What should football learn from the Olympics? Humility.

69 min Lampard's off after giving a good account of himself. It's Jake Livermore on for the first of his 12 England caps. Poli, also a debutant, replaces Aquilani.

67 min Milner's low cross is deflected behind for a corner. Lampard takes, as ever, and Cahill lashes it in on the volley! But Lescott's been penalised for some run-of-the-mill pushing and pulling on an Italian defender. Shame. Would have allowed me to pose the following trivia question... When was the last time two England centre backs scored in the same game? You know what, I think I'll pose it anyway!

65 min It's all gone a bit international friendly. Lots of subs now and the game's lost shape and whatever vestiges of purpose it had. This has largely been to England's benefit who are buzzing around Italy's box with laudable energy but very little in the way of invention.

62 min Partytime! It's James Milner and Joleon Lescott! They're on for Jagielka, good tonight, and Johnson.

61 min Cahill the target and he gets a reasonable head on it but it's blocked. Defoe can't do much with the ball as it rebounds to him and Italy clear.

60 min Good skill from Johnson in the middle, whose neat feet take him away from a couple of challenges and allow him to play in Walker on the overlap on the right. His cross brings a corner. Lampard's first delivery is cleared behind for another.

59 min Gabiadinni on for El-Shaarawy for Italy, Diamanti replaced by Verratti.

58 min Italy beginning to ask England some difficult questions. Destro putting himself about well, and has the beating of Cahill. England scramble it clear. Shorting afterward Nocerino finds Peruco with a perfect through ball but the substitute can only find the side netting.

55 min Diamanti stands over a free kick out on the left-hand flank. Firm header clear by Jagielka. It's back in the box before long and Destro brings down a Diamanti pass from deep and gets away from Cahill. Strikes at goal between the Chelsea defender's legs and brings a smart save out of Ruddy. Here's a pertinent statistcal tweet from our friends at Opta:

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Opta Sports - 7 - Lampard set up 3 shots &amp;amp; had 4 himself in the 1st half, more than any England player managed in an entire Euro 2012 game. Missed.&lt;/noframe&gt;

53 min This is very, very dull.

51 min Minor tussle in the box as Destro and Jagielka lean into one another while chasing a rogue pass. Destro goes down and half-heartedly appeals for a penalty. No chance.

49 min Italy making most of the early running in a low-key start to the second half. Here's Phil Jagielka scoring the equaliser:

46 min John Ruddy is on for Butland for England, with Defoe replacing Carroll. Peluso replaces Balzaretti for Italy. We have second half.

20.45 Two fairly evenly-matched teams on the evidence of that half, contradicting Italy's underdog status. They're ranked sixth in the world. The mighty England, as you know, are third. Tee hee! Italy have certainly shaded that half and look far more capable of putting something dangerous together in and around their opponent's box, but some of England's passing in midfield and attack has been pleasing. Mostly pointless but still a sign that things might just be heading in the right direction. See you in 15.

HALF TIMEEngland 1 Italy 1

42 min Nice one-two between Abate and Diamanti which gives the full back a chance to shoot from a tight angle. He's dragged it wide.

40 min Well played, Jack Butland. Diamanti, drifting all over the place behind the front man tonight, pops up on the left and swings in a dangerous ball. Just in front of Destro, but Butland reads it well and makes an unorthodox sliding clearance off his shin.

38 min England ending this half the stronger. Cleverley takes it forward at pace and it briefly looks it might open up for him. Instead he opts to play in Carroll, who is dealt with by Ogbonna. Carroll back to looking unconvincing at this level tonight, I'm afraid.

35 min Another chance for Lampard from dangerous range. Astrori gets a boot in the way of his fiercly-struck shot. Loops high into the air and sends Sirigu scurrying away from his line. He catches it cleanly. Good for him. He's still no Buffon.

33 min Young has ages to pick a cross from wide on the right, in line with the wide egde of the area. No overlap forthcoming from Johnson, so he optimistically looks for Carroll with a swinging delivery. Was always going to be a difficult pass, and it's too high for the still-Liverpool-for-now striker.

32 min Lampard allowed space to shoot from just outside the box. Never the wisest idea for a defence playing against him. Well struck, but beaten away to safety by Sirigu.

30 min England pressing higher now but it doesn't seem to be bothering Italy very much as yet. The chaps in red shorts have certainly been perked up by the goal. Johnson, especially, is improved and is encouragingly looking to get onto the ball and do exciting things with it.

GOAL!! 27 min England 1 Italy 1 (Jagielka) You score a header from a corner? We will too! Not the best delivery from Lampard, but Jagielka has a yard on Balzaretti and gets down marvellously to connect with a diving header that guides the ball into the bottom corner on the far post. That's his first international goal, and it was a peach. I take it all back, Phil. You're basically Pele.

23 min Destro causing England problems with quick turns which Andy Caroll doesn't even have the capacity to dream about being able to execute. Walker does enough to put him off his latest shot. Great news, Joey Barton has kindly volunteered to solve all of England's problems:

21 min Better from Johnson, who receives a well-picked ball by Lampard on the right. Puts the ball onto his preferred left foot and gets his shot away. Not difficult for Sirigu.

20 min Fairly end to end at the minute, but Italy looking infinitely more threatening than our lot. Adam Johnson running down familiarly blind alleys. Ever get the feeling you're being laughed at?

18 min England sat frighteningly deep and this can't be doing much for Jack Butland's confidence. A decent catch from a Destro header at goal will help. Good ball in from Nocerino, but he was allowed the freedom of a neutral city to deliver it.

GOAL!! 15 min England 0 Italy 1 (De Rossi) De Rossi gets away from some slack marking, Michael Carrick the culprit, and has an easy job of heading past Butland in the middle of the goal from Diamanti's corner. Poor defending.

15 min Diamanti puts a free kick into the box at speed. Deflects off England's two man wall and Butland has to react quickly to get down low and turn it round his post. Corner.

13 min Lampard free kick ito the box doesn't look too troubling. Sirigu duly catches it, but it puts him unexpectedly on his backfoot and he comes worryingly close to carrying it over his line. Behind him one word shimmers on the digital advertising board. It is green, it is large, it is stark. The word is "Hedgehog".

11 min Another England corner after Nocerino miskicks a cross behind. Lampard finds Carroll but there's too much on his header and it's behind.

9 min Briefly encouraging spell for England after winning a corner. Walker does well to bring a high ball down and shows strength to hold off Balzaretti. It's then tapped around fluently by Young, Cleverley and Johnson. Then Carroll gets it wide on the right. And hammers a cross to no-one.

8 min Diamanti clips a dangerous-looking ball forward towards Destro, with Jagielka and Cahill dragged out of position in the middle of England's defence. Kyle Walker has done well to get into a covering position and heads it away confidently.

7 min Half-empty ground. Pacy but undoubtebly half-committed feel. Phil Jagielka. It feels like an exhibition match. Because it is. Tremendous work from William Walsh on the crucial subject of consecutive England games against the same opposition. Give that man a delicious savoury pie:

Presuming a period of time is needed between matches rather than being involved in a tournament or tour (England visiting Australia, for example), the most recent back-to-back consecutive matches which I am finding are England’s qualifiers against Albania on March 8 and April 26, 1989. Research has been scant though, I simply looked at Shilton’s and Beckham’s appearances and looked for the repeats. Figure that will cover most matches from the mid 70s until a few years ago.

Anyone care to continue this fine work?

3 min Sirigu, in goal for Italy tonight, looks like a budget Buffon. I'm glad he looks a bit like Buffon. But he's just not. And this feels very wrong.

2 min Early corner from Italy. Ogbonna flicks it on, but it's too far away from Destro to do anything other than head it behind for a goal kick. Here's Steven Mills:

1 min Here we go then, let the most important game of all time* begin! I'm happy to report that Italy's retro kit looks absolutely gorgeous. England are dresses unusually in white shirts with red shorts. That's just careless.

(If by "of all time" you mean "taking place in Switzerland tonight")

19.52 The teams are out. We're going to have some national anthems, I reckon. Yes indeed. Here we go. It's God Save The Queen... But no-one's crying! And there's not a medal in sight. That's disappointing.

19.30 A trivia question for you: When was the last-time (excluding two-legged playoff games) that England played a team in consecutive matches? And has it ever happened before in two different contexts? (e.g. European Championships then international friendly) Please note that I do not have the answers to these questions, so you'll need to show your working.

19.20 Henry Winter reports that the FA have assured Lord Ouseley, chairman of Kick It Out, that Roy Hodgson's comments will have no bearing on its John Terry hearing. Here are the words of Lord Ouseley:

In responding to complaints and representations made to the organisation today, Kick It Out reiterates that it cannot and will not do anything to undermine the independent regulatory process of The FA and is advising others to do likewise. However, I have spoken with FA Chairman David Bernstein in relation to comments made by England manager Roy Hodgson. He has given me a categoric assurance that the independent regulatory process is free from any influence and is indeed independent.

19.03 Kevin Wade has identified what football should glean from that festival of excitement we've just experienced in East London:

A sense of pride and passion! Also, to be the best, you have to be dedicated and focussed on the task of winning!!

18.59 Some good news from Italy this evening. Former Siena defender Emanuele Pesoli has ended his four-day hunger strike after speaking to Italian FA vice president Demetrio Albertini. Pesoli was protesting his ban in connection with match-fixing allegations and has said the following:

I've ended my protest partly because of what Albertini said to me, and partly because of president Abete's involvement. I was also advised by my doctor, who urged me to eat something this morning. I'm weak, a bit tired, my blood pressure's not great and I've lost a few pounds.

18.30 Evening liveblog fans.

After the undeniably gigantic win that was the Olympics, we are being eased back rather gently into the idea of a football season.

First an almost apologetic Community Shield at Villa Park. Now a gigantically pointless friendly between two teams that played each other less than two months ago.

This is a match so spectacularly uneccessary that it's not even being held in either of the countries taking part. England is washing its hair tonight, while Italy's dog ate all its football stadia.

So we're off to Switzerland to the stadium with the amusing name to watch the first cousins twice-removed of England and Italy's best XI's attempt to avoid injury in front of some people that like clocks and neutrality.

Hmm...

Here was the suggested England line-up from actor and Twitter mirth merchant David Schneider:

So it's not all bad. Roy's brave new world of practical football might march on at moderate pace. Andy Carroll and Adam Johnson have a chance to impress potential loan-deal suitors. And we have a chance to listen to the marvellous Italian national anthem.